Employee Career Development: How Can I Keep My Staff Motivated With Limited Promotions

Written by Marcia Zidle | Edited by Rory Hart
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    If there are limited opportunities in your department or company for promotions, how do you keep staff excited and motivated and morale up during tough times?

    Here are six suggestions that will go a long way to enhance the employee career development of your staff as well as increase their commitment during times of change and uncertainty.

    1. Rotate some tasks on your team.
      If you give people the chance to do different tasks within the same team, it allows them to add new skills and experiences. It also allows you to be in a better position if someone leaves or takes time off.
    2. Move team members horizontally.
      Allow workers to move to a completely different department or team to try something new. This can keep morale high and help generate new ideas.
    3. Find out what motivates your team.
      Upward career mobility is a huge motivator for many people. But if that doesn’t exist, you have to really focus on other areas to make sure your team is happy and excited about what they’re doing. Realize one size doesn’t fit all.
    4. Give the team the power to make decisions.
      One of the key tasks of being a boss is to delegate certain responsibilities to the staff. For example, let workers design their own roles if the workload changes. This might lead to much more productive results than if you defined their jobs for them
    5. Help each member to gain additional qualifications.
      If there’s an appropriate class, weekend workshop, or skills training conference, try to have team members attend. |Education benefits everyone. Your team stays stimulated and your company gains additional knowledge and skill sets that can keep you ahead of your competition.
    6. Offer “soft” benefits to help them achieve a better work-life balance.
      You can’t give team members promotions, but can you give them flexible work hours, telecommuting options, or even children’s day care services. These little things might not seem like much, but they can go a long way toward ensuring that your workers are happy with their jobs.

    Management Success Tip:

    Career growth in organizations that are growing slowing or even downsizing can be challenging and it definitely takes creativity to maximize your team’s productivity. Focus on giving workers more, and varied, responsibilities as well as more opportunities to make their own decisions. Be willing to let them define their roles, perform new tasks, or even change departments to keep things fresh and interesting for them. Also, see 7 Ways to Energize Your Staff and How to Encourage Everyone to Do Their Best Work.

    Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

    Marcia Zidle